These days, durian growers in Gia Lai province are entering the durian harvest. Although this year’s durian yield has decreased, the price of durian purchased has increased (currently at 55-70 thousand VND/kg), so many gardeners still ensure a high profit.
Durian is priced
Nearly 3 weeks ago, Mr. Ha Dang Thuan’s family (O Pec village, Ia Pech commune, Ia Grai district) collected more than 850 million VND from selling durian.
Mr. Thuan said: The family planted 4.6 hectares of durian varieties of Thailand, of which more than 2.5 hectares were harvested. This year, the erratic rain and sunshine caused the garden to suffer from heat shock, the young fruit fell a lot, reducing the yield by nearly half compared to last year. However, the price of durian is 10-15 thousand VND/kg higher than the previous crop.
“Last year, I cut and sold durian to traders at the price of 40-60 thousand VND/kg, but the quantity of type 1 fruit was not much. This year, traders came to the garden to buy durian bags with buckets for 57,000 VND/kg. Currently, traders have finished cutting 2 batches of 15 tons of fruit. It is expected that the final collection will be about 5 tons more. At the current selling price of durian, after deducting expenses, the family makes a profit of 1 billion dong. This is the second year that my family earns billions of dollars from durian trees,” said Mr. Thuan happily.
According to Mr. Thuan, the Ia Pech Durian Farm Association currently has 65 members cultivating over 100 hectares. Although this year durian did not have a good harvest, it sold at a high price, so people were very excited.
In particular, the durian garden of the members of the Agriculture Association cultivates organically, limiting the use of pesticides, so the quality of the fruit is delicious, traders buy a lot.
The durian garden of a member of Dai Ngan Organic Agriculture Cooperative (Ia Blu commune, Chu Puh district, Gia Lai province) is cultivated according to VietGAP standards. Photo: NS
In this year’s durian crop, the members of Dai Ngan Organic Agriculture Cooperative (Ia Blu commune, Chu Puh district, Gia Lai province) are also very excited because the product is officially exported to China.
Director of the cooperative Nguyen Viet Binh informed: “The cooperative is associated with 62 households cultivating more than 250 hectares of durian according to VietGAP standards. Currently, the cooperative has 177.4 hectares of durian with a planting area code.
This year, although the yield of orchards is not as good as last year due to adverse effects of the weather, the resale price is 10-15 thousand VND/kg higher than the previous crop, which helps growers earn a good income.
A week ago, some businesses came to offer 60-62 thousand VND/kg to buy durians for export to China. With the price offered by businesses to close the purchase deposit contract, this year there will be some gardeners making billions from durian trees.”
Meanwhile, the 70-hectare durian farm of Mr. Hoang Van Tran’s family (Hrang village, Ia Krieng commune, Duc Co district, Gia Lai province) has invested in production according to VietGAP process and organic direction. area for this year’s crop.
Mr. Ton said: “This year, with 20 hectares of durian for harvest, the family collected 70 tons of fruit in 2 batches, the last batch is expected to get about 30 tons more. I have a preliminary processing workshop and a frozen store to preserve fresh fruit for export. Before the harvest, I signed a contract to sell to a partner for 64-74 thousand VND/kg depending on the type. This price is 15-20 thousand VND/kg higher than last year, while the product is sold strongly, so we durian growers are very excited.”
Step by step improve durian quality
Ia Grai district has more than 600 hectares of durian, of which nearly 450 hectares have been harvested. Mr. Phan Dinh Tham, Head of the District Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: In the past years, the district has established a specialized durian growing area, concentrated in communes: Ia Krai, Ia To, Ia Pech and Ia Kha town.
Currently, the local durian has been supported by the provincial functional sector to build 2 planting area codes for nearly 30 hectares. This has helped local durian products to be officially exported to the Chinese market in this year’s harvest at high prices, bringing great profits to farmers.
According to Mr. Tham, in the coming time, the district will strengthen propaganda and mobilize people to focus on producing according to VietGAP, GlobalGAP and organic standards.
At the same time, encourage people to apply advanced production processes and clean agriculture to meet the needs of the domestic and export markets.
Along with that, it is recommended that people should not massively increase the area but focus on taking good care of their existing orchards to gradually improve product quality, avoiding risks when market prices fluctuate.
With the current selling price of durian, many durian growers in Gia Lai province have billions in income. Photo: Nguyen Diep
Chu Se district has about 300 ha of durian for harvesting. According to Mr. Nguyen Van Hop-Head of the District Department of Agriculture and Rural Development: This year, the erratic weather has affected the yield and quality of durian. Through preliminary capture, durian yield decreased compared to the previous year.
In order to facilitate the output of products, the Department assists people in developing the planting area codes and applying safe production processes, ensuring according to quality standards, meeting the needs of domestic consumption. and export. At the same time, encourage people to associate and establish cooperative groups associated with businesses in product consumption.
“However, this is a difficult crop, not everyone can grow it effectively. Therefore, we advise people to be careful when expanding the area but focus on taking care of the existing orchards to improve the quality of durian fruit and increase the competitiveness of the product in the export market”-Mr. information.
Talking to PV, Mr. Doan Ngoc Co – Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development – said: Gia Lai province currently has 4,200 hectares of durian area, mainly concentrated in the western districts and cities.
In which, the harvested area is about 2,000 hectares, the average yield is 15 tons of fruit/ha. Currently, the whole province has 17 planting area codes granted by the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) for durian trees with a total area of 360.74 hectares and this number will increase from now until the end of the year.
“In the coming time, the Agriculture and Rural Development sector will orient people to maintain the existing durian area, not to expand. At the same time, encourage people to focus on investing in improving productivity and quality of orchards with new durian varieties with high yield and quality, suitable to soil conditions.
In particular, localities and businesses need to produce according to VietGAP, GlobalGAP and organic standards suitable for export markets. Along with that, step by step build Gia Lai durian brand to bring the highest economic efficiency “-Deputy Director of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Gia Lai province added.
